1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to corrosion inhibitors which can be added to a molten salt so as to retard the corrosive effects on mild and low alloy steels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The KNO.sub.3 -NaNO.sub.3 salts are candidates to replace organic fluids as the heat storage media in the next generation solar energy plants. These salts are attractive because of their wide liquid temperature range and comparatively low cost but have a disadvantage of being highly corrosive to carbon steels. Although comparatively expensive corrosion resistant alloys, such as Incoloy 800 are now favored for storage vessel construction, low-alloy steels would offer significant cost advantages for storage vessels construction if corrosion can be reduced to an acceptable level.
In the past, corrosion inhibitors have been applied to the material to be protected and as such have failed to reach all areas subject to attack. Also, once inhibitor deterioration occurred, there was no way to reapply the inhibitors without breaking down the system and replacing or recoating damaged components.